Listen to The Selecter’s Ska Take on Doris Day’s ‘Secret Love’

Doris Day didn’t used to have much in common with English ska, but the Selecter has changed all that: The 2 Tone revival band’s new album “String Theory” includes a cover of Day’s “Secret Love,” which premieres today on Speakeasy.

Day first sang the song in the 1953 movie “Calamity Jane,” and the tune won an Oscar for best original song. The Selecter teases out a different meaning from the lyrics about confessing a crush — though they’re not the first to find subtext in the tune.

“It’s a great gay icon song,” singer Pauline Black told Speakeasy. “We’ve just kind of taken that and updated it and done it in an old-school ska way. It’s probably the song anyone would think the Selecter is least likely to do.”

Black has led the Selecter since reviving the band in 1991 after a hiatus of nearly a decade, landing tours with the likes of No Doubt in 1997 (Gwen Stefani has cited Black and the Selecter as a primary influence) and releasing the occasional album over the ensuing 20 years. Neither of the band’s most recent releases — 2011’s “Made in Britain” or this year’s “String Theory” — have come out in the U.S., which the band plans to change soon. In the meantime, they’re returning to America for the second of three planned Stateside tours this year, which included gigs at Coachella in April.

“We’re re-reminding people who we are, what we are and what we are,” Black said.

The next leg of their Non-Stop Pressure Tour kicks off Sept. 13 in Minneapolis and wraps up Sept. 22 in Washington D.C. See their itinerary here.

What do you think of the Selecter’s cover of “Secret Love?” Leave your thoughts in the comments.

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